Adaptation To Climate Change In Developed And Developing Economies - Book Report/Review Example

Adaptation To Climate Change In Developed And Developing Economies Dr. Nath andBehera brings a wealth of knowledge from various research fields in the areas of environmental and resource economics, development economics and new institutional economics. Dr. Behera has published research articles in international journals such as Ecological Economics, Forest Economics and Policy, European Journal of Development Research, Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Development Policy Review and others. He is an assistant professor in the department of Humanities and Social sciences at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. The abstract of the article begins by asserting that climate change will affect poorest countries the most. Reasons given include; geographical locations, low income and low institutional capacity and the reliance of poor communities on climate- sensitive sectors like agriculture. He is convinced that even if climate is fully mitigated, and all plans to fight climate change implemented, some degree of global warming will be experienced as a result of emissions already released in the atmosphere. His objective in this paper is a systematic and critical review of current literature on the impact of climate and choice of adaptations across countries and gather comprehensive policy framework especially those relating to developing countries. He suggests that the impact of development policies on climate change initiatives and adaptation methods. He believes that the adoption of clean technology by the developing countries is pivotal in the fight to control the rate of emission. However, there is need to educate the developing world on the imminent danger of climate change. The introduction highlights lack of an effective international authority to be responsible for enforcing responsibilities for all entities, the divergent view held by the developed and the developing world with regard to the aspects of climate change. The paper stresses the need for a better understanding of the hostile impacts of climate change across the world so that both the developed and the developing world can tackle climate change from the same platform. The paper also espouses on the dangers of the green house gas to social, economic and ecological systems across the world. The result of green house gas include extreme air and ocean temperatures, rice in sea levels and changes in precipitation patterns followed by violent weather events. These changes while likely to affect everyone; will be more devastating to the poor populations. According to the paper, effects of climate change will undermine the quality of life of people by increasing the population below poverty levels. The paper advises the developing countries to adapt to climate change. However, it may prove difficult because the financial implications are well above majority of developing nations. As such the paper stresses its objective which is to review literature on the impacts of climate change on different aspects of life. Experiences of efficient adaptation in developed countries are crucial in identifying and suggesting effective policy framework of developing countries. Literature review forms the second part of the paper. Literature review was mainly on the effects of climate change. The reviewed literature identified several important issues on climate change. For instance, vulnerability to climate change differs across regions and sectors. Ecologically fragile areas are susceptible to stress from climate change especially marginalized communities. Inter-sect oral differences (within agriculture) in adapting to climate change result from ownership of assets, such as , land, cattle, pumps and agricultural implements and level of education. The literature review dwelt on assessing the vulnerability of developing countries to climate change. Reasons given for the vulnerability include economic and institutional factors such as land tenure system, availability of cheap credit and level of irrigation. It proposed the need to perform local assessment of vulnerability in order to understand socioeconomic diversity and the natural environment of communities. They decried the inclination by many researchers to study climate change in developed countries while neglecting poor countries. It suggested the need to explore countries like china, Brazil, and India. Furthermore, it explains the importance of these studies being an all-inclusive economic analysis of the impacts of climate change on various planes such as; rapid unplanned growth of the urban centers, loss of biodiversity and inequity in gender. The literature review is done in preparation for the analytic framework which is aimed at showing the effects of climate change on the poor rural communities and their climate-sensitive resources. Analytic Framework The analytic framework section discusses the plight of poor people living in developing countries who depend on climate-sensitive resources like water supply livestock husbandry, agricultural land and natural resources like fuel from wood. This section provides a detailed framework that explains how climate change, specifically global warming, can have serious effects on agriculture especially in the rural sector. Global warming is said to affect agriculture through three channels of resources namely; air, water and land. The effects of temperature increase on the global hydrological cycle is explained as affecting precipitation, moisture content and increase in extreme weather events like drought and floods. The detailed model also highlights socioeconomic and ecological impacts resulting from climate change and the impact this has on the livelihoods of the rural poor in developing nations. However, the paper is careful to note that in order to attain a comprehensive understanding of climate change, it is vital understand the effect of climate change across regions regardless of the level of economic development. Evidence of Global Warming Part four titled ‘evidence of global warming’ is divided into two major parts. Part on is divided into seven sub parts. Green house gasses are blamed for the increase in global average temperatures and include gases such as Carbon dioxide, methane, fluorinated gases and nitrous oxide. Evidence shows Carbon dioxide as the leading cause of human induced global warming because of burning of fossil fuels. Data provided showed a one third increase (from 280 to 380 ppm) since post industrial revolution. As a result the temperature of the earth has gone up by 0.7 degrees Celsius in the last century. Section 4.1 is entitled ‘Developing country perspective ’. This section explores the effects of climate change on developing countries especially on their livelihoods. For instance, climate change will necessarily reduce availability of local natural resources, and limit access to these resources leading to a lot of suffering for the poor. The paper identified five key areas that are vulnerable to increase in global temperature. They are; water, food, health, ecosystems and coasts. Despite being polluters, the paper shows that the poor people will be the most affected. The section on water and food paints a bleak future particularly for inhabitants of the developing countries. It predicts severe shortage of water, food and health risks resulting from climate change. Instances of floods and droughts will multiply exponentially leading to severe impacts on agricultural activities in poor nations. The section provides a table listing several developing countries as released by World Bank in 2007 that are at risk should the global climate change continue. The section on water and diseases explains the risks of water-borne diseases like diarrhea which is a killer disease. The section shows climate change contributes to the distribution of water and increase incidences of water-borne disease. The section predicts an increase in health burden in regions like island states, arid and high mountains, densely populated coastal areas and high mountain zones. The expected increase in droughts and flooding will also increase health risks. Gender section shows women as the most hit by the consequences of climate change due to social role discrimination, poverty and inequity. They are forced to travel long distances in search of water exposing them to a lot of risks. Lack of water affects girls’ education as they drop out of school because a lot of time is spent fetching water. Ecosystem section explains the transformation in the ecosystem that will occur. Forest destruction and ocean degradation will alter the dwelling patterns for the people. Increase in Arid and semi arid areas and lack of reliable source of fish are the expected consequences.Current adaptations explore the need for developing countries to adapt by improving food security, reducing poverty. The second section shows the developed country perspective; they are less dependent on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, have more resources to invest in adaptation and flexible economies. The paper suggests various ways for adaptation in developing countries. They include; Use of NGOs to educate the population on the need to be conscious about climate change; development of specific measures to deal with challenges posed by climate change, empower women. The governments should steer the populations towards better methods of adapting to the challenges of global climate change. The paper concludes by calling all nations both developed and poor to come together to fight global climate change and stop the blame game. In my opinion, this is a crucial paper that addresses the impact of climate change on developing nations. It provides vital information because most researches on climate change are done in developed countries. Reference NATH, P. K., &BEHERA, B. (2011). A critical review of impact of and adaptation to climate change in developed and developing economies. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 13(1), 141-162. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10668-010-9253-9 Read More